Independent Case Review. Strategic Legal Research. Procedural Insight.
Specialist case review and legal research for solicitors, attorneys, families and individuals navigating complex criminal, appellate, extradition and post-conviction matters.
Lexis Bridge Atlantic provides detailed record review, legal research and procedural analysis across UK and US criminal and appellate matters, including post-conviction proceedings, federal habeas corpus (§2254), extradition and judicial review. Our work is designed to help counsel and clients understand what the record contains, identify issues that may warrant further legal consideration, and develop a clearer strategy for the next stage of a case.
Find What the Record Missed
Our work combines detailed record analysis with first-hand experience of the criminal justice systems in the United States and United Kingdom:
The Legal Strategist
Decades of operational mastery and strategic insight forged within the world’s most restrictive institutional settings. This experience resulted in verified success across Florida's post-conviction and appellate courts, and the Federal District and appellate courts, carved out through tenure as a Senior Law Clerk within the Florida Department of Corrections. This specialised perspective is uniquely combined with success in Westminster Magistrates' Court, the Criminal Court of Appeals, and the High Court in London.
Giving counsel a deeper understanding of what is hidden in the record. Giving the case a closer, detailed look.
Our Mission: Examine the Record. Find the Issues. Build the Bridge.
Our Mission: Expertise Forged by Necessity
Lexis Bridge Atlantic was founded on a simple realisation: in complex criminal and appellate matters, important issues can be buried in thousands of pages of transcripts, pleadings, exhibits and procedural history. Careful analysis of that record can reveal questions that deserve further legal consideration.
We provide supervising solicitors, attorneys and families with structured case analysis that helps them understand the procedural history, identify potential issues and determine what questions should be put to counsel. Our role is to strengthen the information available for informed legal decision-making—not to replace qualified legal representation.
Experience Rooted in Practice
Our perspective has been shaped by more than two decades of direct experience within and around the US and UK criminal justice systems, including nearly 15 years of sustained involvement in extradition proceedings.
That experience has developed a disciplined approach to tracing procedural history, testing the record against the issues raised on appeal or in post-conviction proceedings, and identifying matters that may otherwise be overlooked.
"We understand that the most useful review is often the one that asks what everyone else may have overlooked."
Experience matters. So does a second, careful look.
The Partnership Advantage
Where appropriate, our work can be provided to support qualified US attorneys and UK solicitors. This collaborative model keeps legal advice and representation with the professionals authorised to provide it, while giving them a detailed analytical resource to work from.
Strategic Capabilities: Case Review & Litigation Support
Structured analysis for complex criminal, appellate, extradition and post-conviction matters across US and UK jurisdictions.
US Services
LBA delivers structured record analysis designed to clarify procedural history, identify potential issues and help counsel assess available legal avenues across state, federal and UK proceedings.
US State Post-Conviction Case Review
We review trial and post-conviction records for potential procedural issues, evidentiary questions and possible ineffective-assistance-of-counsel issues that may warrant further investigation by qualified counsel.
We give attorneys and families a structured account of what the record shows, what questions remain, and which issues may merit further legal analysis.
Pre-Appeal Record Review
We conduct detailed trial-record reviews to identify potential appellate issues, trace preservation and waiver questions, and provide counsel with a structured issue map before an appellate strategy is finalised.
Federal Habeas Review (§2254)
We analyse state-court records for issues relevant to potential federal habeas review under 28 U.S.C. §2254, including exhaustion, procedural default, constitutional claims and the applicable standards of review.
We provide research and record analysis that can assist counsel—or an individual acting without counsel—in understanding the federal procedural landscape. We do not provide federal legal representation.
Institutional Records & IAC Review
We review institutional, disciplinary and investigative records where they may bear on ineffective assistance, mitigation, sentencing or newly discovered evidence.
We organise the relevant material so counsel can assess potential mitigation, sentencing and newly discovered evidence issues.
UK Services
LBA provides targeted research and procedural analysis to support qualified counsel handling extradition and related proceedings in the UK.
Appeal & Conviction Review
We review trial transcripts, sentencing remarks and appellate records for potential issues including directions, disclosure, preservation and procedural fairness. Where appropriate, our analysis can help counsel assess possible applications for leave, appeals out of time or referral to the CCRC.
Extradition & International Criminal Justice
Drawing on nearly 15 years of first-hand extradition experience, we examine procedural history, treaty issues and relevant human-rights considerations to support qualified counsel assessing extradition proceedings. We do not advise on or conduct extradition proceedings ourselves.
Custodial Records & Article 3 Research
While we do not provide medical diagnoses or treatment, we can review psychiatric and custodial records for factual and procedural issues that may be relevant to legal arguments. Qualified counsel remains responsible for legal advice and any human-rights submissions.
Institutional Impact & Policy Research
Beyond individual cases, LBA provides research and analysis for organisations examining incarceration, extradition and criminal-justice policy.
We draw on experience across US and UK correctional systems to provide research, briefings and practical analysis concerning incarceration, extradition, sentencing and the experience of people navigating the criminal justice system.
We also look to partner with charities, social enterprises and mission-driven organisations to develop practical pathways beyond incarceration — including access to suitable housing, education, rehabilitation, employment and community support.
Why Lexis Bridge Atlantic?
At Lexis Bridge Atlantic, we focus on the work that often takes time but matters enormously: reading the record carefully, reconstructing the procedural history, researching the relevant issues and presenting findings clearly.
Our fixed-fee review work is designed to give counsel and families a practical, evidence-led foundation for deciding what should happen next.
Email: info@lexisbridge.com
Clarity From the Record
Legal proceedings can be difficult to navigate, particularly when the record is extensive or the procedural history is complicated. Our focus is analytical clarity: what happened, what was preserved, what remains unresolved, and what questions should be considered by qualified counsel.
Working Alongside Counsel
Our role is complementary. We do not replace solicitors or attorneys. We provide research, record synthesis and structured analysis that can help qualified counsel spend more time on legal strategy and advocacy.
Analysis Before Action
Sometimes the most important finding is the issue that has not yet been examined closely enough. Our approach is designed to surface potential procedural, evidential and constitutional questions for further consideration—not to promise a particular legal outcome.
Experience & Perspective
Institutional Insight
The leadership at Lexis Bridge Atlantic brings experience from high-stakes judicial and correctional environments in both the United States and United Kingdom. That perspective informs a careful, practical approach to complex records and procedural histories.
Led by a Director with a background as a Senior Law Clerk within the Florida Department of Corrections and nearly 15 years of involvement in UK extradition proceedings, LBA provides structured case review and research support to supervising counsel, solicitors and families.
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Umar (Phillip) Harkins
Director &
Head Legal Strategist
In Development
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Associate Strategist
Associate Researcher
Over two decades of operational mastery within the US and UK legal systems, including a landmark 15-year extradition defense.
Verifiable Success: Strategic Case Highlights
Extradition Defense
Harkins v. UK 71537/14 [2017] ECHR 1182 (15 June 2017)
A central part of our history: a nearly 15-year defence against extradition to the United States, including proceedings before the Magistrates' Court, High Court and European Court of Human Rights concerning Article 3 ECHR.
The Strategy: The proceedings required sustained attention to procedural developments across the Magistrates' Court, High Court and Strasbourg.
The Leverage: The experience provides a practical perspective on the complexity of transatlantic extradition proceedings.
Florida Post-Conviction
State v. Loyd, No. 2009CF003544 (Fla. 9th Cir. Ct. Orange County, FL
Case Development: From Life Without Parole to Release
A long-running Florida case involving a First-Degree Capital Murder charge and a life-without-parole sentence, the record presented a potential route for further post-conviction litigation.
The Strategy: Umar identified a procedural route for further consideration based on newly discovered evidence.
The Outcome: On August 29, 2025, the First-Degree Murder charge was nolle prossed. The client entered a negotiated plea to a secondary count and was released from custody. The result illustrates the potential significance of careful post-conviction record analysis
Florida Supreme Court
Kitt v. State, No. SC19-1807 (Fla. Mar. 3, 2020)
In Kitt v. State, the case raised important questions concerning discretionary review, exhaustion of state remedies and the preservation of potential federal habeas (§2254) claims.
The Strategy: We prepared and filed a Petition for Belated Discretionary Review in the Florida Supreme Court, arguing that the failure of prior counsel had affected the client's ability to exhaust available state remedies.
The Outcome: The Florida Supreme Court granted belated review, preserving an opportunity to pursue the relevant issues through the state process before seeking federal review
